Document CMPC-2003-000537 is a secret and personal memo written in November 1999 by the director of the Iraqi National Monitoring Department (NMD) and addressed to the Minister of the Iraqi Military Industrialization Commission (MIC). The memo talks about a Neutron Source Device with High Radioactive Activity that was found in one Iraqi University and the NMD is asking that it should be returned to the Iraqi Atomic Energy Organization. The Neutron Source Device can be also called Neutron Generator or Neutron Initiator. This Neutron Generator device was not declared to the UN inspectors all the time they were in Iraq from 1991 to late 1998 when they were kicked out of Iraq. In fact Neutron generators were prohibited to be used by the Iraqis according to this UN document ( http://www.un.org/Depts/unmovic/documents/S-2002-515.pdf page 133 of this UN document pdf, an * next to an item means it is porhibited).

The University of Al Mustansirya/Science Faculty informed us in its letter No. 2369 on 24/10/1999 of the existence of a Neutron Source (Am-Be) in one of its laboratories and was previously brought by Dr. Midhat Al Zubaidi one of the ex-researchers (currently retired) of Firnas Center and we did the following:

1. Send a team from the department to investigate this Source where it was revealed it a Source (P-Be) with a high radiation activity (Aciory) brought in the year 1996.

2. A meeting was held in our department on Sunday 14/11/1999 with all the people concerned from the Atomic Energy Agency and the Firnas company and the Science Faculty/Al Mustansirya University and the following was revealed:

A. The Atomic Energy Organization clarified that this Source was not documented in their archives because it was previously shrouded by secrecy and it was delivered to Dr. Midhat Al Zubaidi at the end of year 1989.

B. Dr. Midhat clarified that he received the Source from the Organization in 1993 during the period where the equipment from the previous program were returned to the Al Tuwaitha site and he transferred to the Engineering Faculty/Baghdad University and then it was returned to its current location in Al Mustansirya University in the year 1996.

3. Dr. Khaled Ibrahim Said clarified that it is possible that this Source can be used by the Fourth Group where Dr. Midhat Al Zubaidi was one of its members in the year 1989 and for the purpose of doing some experimentations.

4. Information about this Source was previously requested by the Agency because it was imported to the Iraqi Atomic Energy Organization under the name of Al Basra University. And the Organization sent a team to Al Basra University to investigate or try to find it without any results.

In light of these infractions we suggest the return of the Source to the Iraqi Atomic Energy Organization and including and declaring it among the Radioactive Sources that it possesses.

With regards Sir

General Engineer

Hussam Ahmad Amin

18/11/1999

End of the Translation.

I also found in my reading of document ISGQ-2003-00000813.pdf which is a 2002 document that the Iraqi were working to produce TANTALUM COATED GRAPHITE as part of research activities for the year 2002. This very special coating of Graphite with Tantalum to create a highly corrosion resistant surface for graphite. The document by itself does not say what is the use for this but for sure one of the few applications is that this Tantalum coated graphite can be used with the highly corrosive UF6 or Uranium Hexafluoride which is the basic component for ENRICHED URANIUM. In fact A Tantalum coated Graphite was totally prohibited for use in Iraq since it falls under the prohibited nuclear activities per this UN document ( http://www.un.org/Depts/unmovic/documents/S-2002-515.pdf pages 84 and 133 of this UN document pdf, an * next to an item means it is prohibited).

Great translation jv. Yet again you provide us with a document that should be viewed with great suspicion. Clearly they where fiddling around with nuclear physics beyond what was permitted within the oil for food program agreements. We know they had some 1.7 tons of highly enriched uranium at mentioned nuclear power facility. Whether it approached weapon grade uranium, I have never seen proof positive to that fact. But anything greater then some 6% is beyond what is required to put in the fuel rods for simply electrical power generation. At any rate, thanks for your continued services on the English translation repository at FR.

7
posted on 06/18/2006 7:17:10 PM PDT
by Marine_Uncle
(Honor must be earned)

Tantalum is one of the most expensive and rarest metals on the planet and it is highly resistant to corrosion. Tantalum or Graphite coated Tantalum are one of the few materials that can resist the highly corrosive Uranium Hexofluoride (UF6) which is the main ingredient for enriched Uranium.

14
posted on 06/18/2006 7:23:08 PM PDT
by jveritas
(Support The Commander in Chief in Times of War)

I think you are right. Obviously you are thinking about them experimenting with special treated materials that eventually could be used in parts to make gas centrifuges, interior piping, baffles, special valve assemblies. All the things that go into building cascade/serial gas centrifuges to create highly enriched uranium from HF6 gas. As far as the neutron generators. Yea. Could simply been a small unit that contains any number of different isotopes that can be used to create either alpha, beta, gamma radiation for many applications which of course can include commercial uses such as irridating say seed stock, kill bacteria, a plethora of could be peacefull intended uses, including nuclear medical research, but at the same time could be used in things they where not to be fiddling around with.

17
posted on 06/18/2006 7:28:00 PM PDT
by Marine_Uncle
(Honor must be earned)

"A mechanism based on implosion provided the solution to this problem. In this design, the fissile material is shaped into a single sphere with a mass slightly less than critical. Layers of carefully shaped high explosives surround the sphere. When the explosives are detonated, the force of the shock wave compresses the fissile material into a smaller volume, forming a supercritical mass. This method of assembly is much faster than the gun-type mechanism and thus eliminates the problems resulting from spontaneous neutron emission of Pu-240. The spherical mass resulted in a pumpkin-shaped weapon called "Fat Man".

"To assure that a chain reaction occurs, an initiator is placed at the center of the sphere of fissile materials. It consists of a source of alpha particles, radioactive polonium, surrounded with thin aluminum foil. The foil-wrapped source is then surrounded with beryllium powder. When the initial explosion squeezes the fissile material into a supercritical mass, the foil breaks, allowing the alpha particles to reach the beryllium and produce the initial neutrons."

Since Operation Iraqi Freedom, two scientists from Iraqs pre-1991 nuclear weapons program have emerged to provide ISG with uranium enrichment technology and components, which they kept hidden from inspectors. In August 2003, a former EMIS scientist told ISG during an interview that he had taken material and equipment that was related to EMIS and hid them in various places near his home in the 1990s. The scientist had not been specifically told to do this but believed his supervisors were cognizant of his actions. He chose items to hide that could be used in future reconstitution of the EMIS program. The scientist turned over to the Coalition a broad range of items that had been withheld from the UN inspectors, including technical reports on EMIS, a collection of foreign EMIS-related patents, a mass spectrometer, blocks of high-purity graphite, high-purity tantalum shielding sheets, and an indigenously designed collector piece from inside the EMIS machine.Some of these items are shown in Figure 34."

22
posted on 06/18/2006 7:34:37 PM PDT
by jveritas
(Support The Commander in Chief in Times of War)

As well they shouldn't. "Jveritas" is correct that the more important tidbit in the article is the "tantalum coated graphite". Tantalum is a very difficult material to work with, yet highly corrosion resistant. Graphite, OTOH is relatively cheap, abundant, and easy to work with. Coating graphite with tantalum potentially offers a short-cut route to piping for handling corrosive gas.

The "neutron generator" is simply an isotopic neutron source that uses the high-energy alpha particles emitted by many isotopes (including naturally occuring ones) to slam into a beryllium "target". When such a high-energy collision occurs, you get (as I recall) the formation of Lithium nuclei, and the emission of a free neutron, which can then be used for many experimental purposes. Commerical sources of this type typically use either Americium or Plutonium (note--NOT the fissionable plutonium isotope), as they put out a higher alpha particle flux.

Thanks for the further feedback. Aso. The frigen bums as we know where keeping stuff on the back burner for when the UN with the blessing of US and Britain would have lifted the sanctions. They wanted the bomb and would have gotten it. No doubt in my mind.

29
posted on 06/18/2006 7:41:48 PM PDT
by Marine_Uncle
(Honor must be earned)

Agreed 100%. In fact the more I read the more I come up with the conclusion that they wanted the nuclear weapon because they were terrified that Iran has been developing their own nuclear and chemical weapons.

On the Chemical Weapons issue, I think from my reading so far that the Iraqi had all the material available to produce them in a very short period of time. They had all the precursors necessary to build Sarin, Tabun, Hydrogen Cyanide, and even VX gas. I think that most of these precursors were buried in the Western desert and they are still there.

33
posted on 06/18/2006 7:46:58 PM PDT
by jveritas
(Support The Commander in Chief in Times of War)

I think most of them stayed in Iraq or left for the West. Some even fled to the west when Saddam still in power. The Iranians have their own nuclear scientists, with some help from the Russians renegade nuclear scientists, North Koreans, and Pakistanis.

35
posted on 06/18/2006 7:51:40 PM PDT
by jveritas
(Support The Commander in Chief in Times of War)

" I think that most of these precursors were buried in the Western desert and they are still there." Only a damn fool would believe otherwise. And let us not forget those rivers, creeks, lake/canal systems. My body and brain are fried from working 9 hours. Time to hit the rack before my hazy head bumps against the keyboard, have a good night gents.

36
posted on 06/18/2006 7:55:27 PM PDT
by Marine_Uncle
(Honor must be earned)

Why do the Iraqi needs it? As I said this was absoltely prohibited for the Iraqis to have according to the UN document. Please see page 133 and 84 of this http://www.un.org/Depts/unmovic/documents/S-2002-515.pdf an * next to an item means it is prohibited. According to the document this material are used to resist the highly corrosive UF6.

44
posted on 06/18/2006 8:14:09 PM PDT
by jveritas
(Support The Commander in Chief in Times of War)

They are usually used in neutron research as a pulse mode neutron generator with selectable output neutron energies

They have been studied as a radiotherapy neutron source in cancer research, materials research in studying N,P reactions and neutron adsorption activation studies in concrete and other structural materials..

Tantalum is generally resistant to neutron activation degradation in usually encountered neutron fields, I think

Thanks for the information. I think it is worth that someone in the specialized government agencies investigate this. I believe that the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) had ended their mission much earlier than they should and made premature conclusion that Iraq had no WMD or programs related to WMD.

50
posted on 06/18/2006 8:44:16 PM PDT
by jveritas
(Support The Commander in Chief in Times of War)

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